News / National
CID officers storm Bulawayo nightclubs beat up revellers
07 Jan 2014 at 08:24hrs | Views
POLICE under the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Homicide section allegedly went on a rampage on Sunday night beating up revellers at three popular night spots along Robert Mugabe Way in Bulawayo for no apparent reason.
According to Southern Eye, it emerged that after a botched armed robbery in Nkulumane, police chiefs read the riot act to their subordinates and ordered that the robbers be smoked out.
Gun-toting robbers allegedly pounced at two supermarkets and a nightclub in Nkulumane.
Members of the homicide section were reportedly dressed down by their commanders in a no-holds-barred meeting after the Nkulumane attempted robberies.
As a reaction, members of the CID section went on a rampage beating up revellers at the Lounge, Lagondola and Club Forty 40 in the city centre.
Southern Eye is reliably informed that when night club bosses tried to find out why plice officers assaulted and harassed their clients, it then emerged that police commanders had lamented the increase in robberies in the city during the festive season.
Eye witnesses said there was pandemonium as patrons tried to escape the unexpected beatings by the heavily armed police. The commotion worsened when police fired warning shots into the air as patrons fled the beatings resulting in some revellers sustaining injuries in the ensuing stampede.
According to a source who witnessed the turmoil at the Lounge and Lagondola, the armed police suddenly entered the bars and threatened to shoot the revellers and started beating them up indiscriminately.
"Yesterday (Sunday) evening, people were harassed by CIDs but we know that they are not the ones responsible for closing bars," the source said.
The source said the armed police's unnecessary heavy handedness had left patrons confused because they had not committed any crime.
"Patrons were treated like bandits by being beaten and threatened with death for simply having a good time. This raises a lot of questions about security forces in this country," the source said.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from the police were unsuccessful.
According to Southern Eye, it emerged that after a botched armed robbery in Nkulumane, police chiefs read the riot act to their subordinates and ordered that the robbers be smoked out.
Gun-toting robbers allegedly pounced at two supermarkets and a nightclub in Nkulumane.
Members of the homicide section were reportedly dressed down by their commanders in a no-holds-barred meeting after the Nkulumane attempted robberies.
As a reaction, members of the CID section went on a rampage beating up revellers at the Lounge, Lagondola and Club Forty 40 in the city centre.
Southern Eye is reliably informed that when night club bosses tried to find out why plice officers assaulted and harassed their clients, it then emerged that police commanders had lamented the increase in robberies in the city during the festive season.
Eye witnesses said there was pandemonium as patrons tried to escape the unexpected beatings by the heavily armed police. The commotion worsened when police fired warning shots into the air as patrons fled the beatings resulting in some revellers sustaining injuries in the ensuing stampede.
According to a source who witnessed the turmoil at the Lounge and Lagondola, the armed police suddenly entered the bars and threatened to shoot the revellers and started beating them up indiscriminately.
"Yesterday (Sunday) evening, people were harassed by CIDs but we know that they are not the ones responsible for closing bars," the source said.
The source said the armed police's unnecessary heavy handedness had left patrons confused because they had not committed any crime.
"Patrons were treated like bandits by being beaten and threatened with death for simply having a good time. This raises a lot of questions about security forces in this country," the source said.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from the police were unsuccessful.
Source - Southern Eye
